[CPEO-BIF] School on New Bedford (MA) dump site

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

PCB plan divides officials, activists 
Critics say Keith project needs more precautions 

By AARON NICODEMUS
New Bedford Standard-Times (MA)
April 10, 2005


NEW BEDFORD -- There are two sides to the debate over constructing a new
Keith Middle School on a contaminated former dump site on Hathaway
Boulevard. 

 On one side are city officials as well as environmental bureaucrats
from the state and the federal government who say that the former McCoy
Field site can be made safe by removing the most contaminated soil,
capping the rest and building the school on top. 

 "We're basing what we're doing on scientific and regulatory principals
of the state and federal government," said Mayor Frederick M. Kalisz Jr.
"We're looking to clean up the wrongs of the past by remediating the
site to standards that have been proven to be safe. We're not leaving
this to be cleaned up by future generations." The Massachusetts
Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency have been reviewing the cleanup plan at every point.
Representatives of those agencies have said that a proper cap can
contain the polychlorinated biphenyls and make the site safe for a
school. 

On the other side is an increasingly outspoken group of neighbors,
community activists, environmentalists and, increasingly, city officials
who are sounding the alarm over safety issues and rising costs. They say
nothing short of removing all the contaminated soil will make that site
safe enough for a school. 

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/04-05/04-10-05/a01lo251.htm

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
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